82-Year Old Man Teaches Girlfriend to Read After Serious Stroke

Everybody gets their news from somewhere via T.V., newspaper, tablets, radio, or cell phones and maybe 50 percent of the time the news reports about the bad things happening around the U.S. However, there are times which the news can warm your heart, make you smile and make you want to hear more positive and motivation stories. I enjoy hearing heroic stories about people, animals, and anything that shows the kindness that is really out in the world, instead of the violence that has surrounded us all.

There is a picture that has made its way onto the internet that truly defines not only kindness, but also loyalty, love, and a remarkable dedication to another human being and the strong will of oneself.

Matthew Ballestero, along with his two friends, Alexandra and Stephanie were sitting in a local Starbucks in California where they usually get together for a cup of coffee and talk, but this time, Matthew noticed something he had to know more about. Matthew saw 82 year old John Allen and his 70 year old longtime girlfriend Linda Alexander sitting at a table, in which John was showing flash cards to her.

Linda lost majority of her memory five years ago due to a sudden illness that led to her stroke and severe brain damage according to NBC Today.

Since then, John Allen has been taking Linda to this local Starbucks six mornings a week for her daily reading lesson, to go along with this dedication, he also takes her to the gym three days a week to help her strengthen the right side of her body, that is still partially paralyzed, but showing good signs of recovery.

“I could not even talk for a while except to say I love you to John,” Alexander said. “I want to be able to drive, I want to be able to read, and I want to do the things I could do before.”

She also went on to mention that she is still enjoying life and that she is not sad or mad about her situation. She has certainly shown tremendous recovery, and inspiring devotion to John, and he also deserves tons of love for his outstanding determination to keep battling and supporting his long love of his life.

“My friends and I were overwhelmed by the love that these two had for each other, and I knew I wanted to let them know how much of an inspiration and a perfect example of true love they were to me,” Ballestero said. “We could feel the love emanating off of them.”

Matthew and his friends each took turns taking pictures with the couple which has received thousands of likes and comments on facebook, along with the social media sight Reddit, millions of people have seen the picture of these lovebirds online.

This just shows you the kind of love that is still out in the world today.

Man teaches girlfriend to read after stroke

A photo showing a man trying to teach a woman the alphabet recently became an Internet sensation as hundreds of thousands of people wondered about the back story. NBC’s Kristen Dahlgren talks to John Allen, who is seen in the photo teaching his girlfriend, Linda, how to read after she suffered brain damage from a stroke.